United By Crime
by Robina
Summary: Family was left behind on Puckworld. This is one sister who won't stay behind. Duke/Tanya, with plenty of OC goodness.
1. Acceptance

A/N This is a rewrite of an older fic, "Bonded by Crime".

_Acceptance_

Puckworld, before the Saurian siege

She waited until the security guard was asleep before slipping into the room. Multiple moniters showed her various views of the museum floor. Not that they ever bothered to put those cameras on the roof. Shaking her head slightly, Dutchess slid next to the computer.

Her hands were confident as they flew over the keyboard. She was in her element as she shut down the various security measures the museum had installed. A final check to make sure she hadn't missed anything, and she spoke softly into the small microphone near her mouth.

"You've got five minutes bro."

"Plenty of time," Duke L'Orange smiled as he slid the skylight open silently and checked for guards. He waited until one turned the corner, then quickly lowered himself through the shadows to the floor. Within a few moments, he and the Starla Gem were gone.

Back in the security room, Dutchess L'Orange did her own disappearing act.

--------

Dutchess watched her brother as they made their way back to headquarters. Didn't he know how hard it was to keep your cool when you were dying to find out if you made the cut? Had he no clue how desperate she was to hear his verdict? She wanted to strangle him, brother or not. He wasn't even fazed!

Duke kept an eye on his little sister. Her face was a mask of indifference, but it didn't do much good when her eyes gave away her anxiety. He forced himself not to chuckle. Let her stew for a bit, let her worry. After all, it had been her first heist. Once they made it back to the apartment building Talon had bought for them, he'd do better than tell her he was proud. Getting the gem out was one thing, making it home safe was another.

--------

The majority of The Brotherhood stood in the basement to hear Duke's verdict. The twenty members of The Brotherhood of the Blade stood on the small stage that had been set up for these occasions. Talon, leader of The Brotherhood, stood to address his true family.

"Every one settle down." He waited a moment for silence, and then continued. "The Brotherhood is a close-knit organization. We look after each other, train each other. Heck, we even clean up after each other sometimes." A small chuckle rippled through the crowd. "Tonight is a big night. We celebrate the introduction of two of our newer members," at this he gestured to Jackal and Sena, "who proved themselves very well in their first heists, we celebrate my two year, three month and four day anniversary of dating to the most beautiful female on Puckworld," he smiled at Sandy, his girlfriend, as groans and jeers circled the room, "and," he paused for silence, "we get to see if a young girl is capable of joining us. Some of you have been members of The Brotherhood since we were kids at school, stealing from others to prove we could. Most of you have joined since we grew up and became the top gang of jewel thieves on the planet." A cheer from The Brotherhood rose.

"It is with bated breath that we now wait, as a young girl who grew up with us as a little sister or friend has taken the challenge to become a full-fledged member of, not just The Brotherhood, but the elite Brotherhood of the Blade. Testing her tonight is none other than the leader of The Brotherhood of the Blade, Duke L'Orange!" Another cheer rose as Duke came down the steps and walked to the stage. He and Talon clasped hands and gave each other a one arm hug. With a magnanimous gesture, Talon turned the audience over to Duke and seated himself beside Sandy.

"Fellow members of The Brotherhood, ya know the tests that come when someone wants to join us. We take on no one lightly. We can't afford to. That in mind, I'd like to bring in our newest applicant, Dutchess L'Orange."

Dutchess stood at the top of the stairs, butterflies doing the rumba in her belly. 'Geez, what made me think I was up for this? What made me think I could handle this?' They were waiting on her. All of them. What if I messed up somewhere? Did something wrong? What if Duke just refuses to let me take such a risk? She could hear a chant starting up. The Brotherhood was the only family she'd ever known, and they were supporting her even now. Shaking only slightly, she took the first step.

The rest of the walk to the stage was blurred by nerves. Duke was talking some more, but she couldn't focus. She wanted, no, needed this so badly. She didn't relax until Talon and Sandy stood and came to either side of her. They were solid, a unit. Talon's medium frame masked Sandy's hand resting lightly on her back from the rest of The Brotherhood. It gave her the strength she needed to focus.

"Dutchess L'Orange, it is my duty, and pleasure, to welcome you as a full member into The Brotherhood of the Blade."

--------

Duke stood aside with Talon and Ricochet, watching his sister turn down Jackal yet again. "The boy'll never learn," he mused, shaking his head.

"Cut him a break Duke." Talon responded. "After all, he doesn't have your way with the ladies."

Ricochet chuckled. "Ladies only go for Duke 'cause of the eye patch. If only they knew he got it 'cause he was blind in that eye from birth."

Duke sneered at his best friends as they laughed. "At least I can get a girl." It was weak, but then, he wasn't in the mood for a good round of teasing. Life seemed to be passing him by a bit quicker these days. At least he had good friends. He took a moment to consider them.

Who'd believe that millionaire Talon Pierce was the leader of the infamous Brotherhood? Duke knew it and had a hard time believing it! The guy had started recruiting young, forming the core leadership while attending a public school (having been kicked out of the tenth private school and chased off his tutors until his parents agreed to let him go). At first, Talon let the others believe they were just the wannabe bad boys of the school. He'd worked them up, training them, until they all realized that they could go after bigger prey, stores with security systems. There had been a few misses, but mostly, Talon had gotten what he wanted. He was "reforming" his rebel image in the public's eye, and was dividing his time between social obligations and The Brotherhood.

Talon had brought Duke in himself. Duke was only a few years younger than Talon, so they'd been at the same school. Duke had at one point been the punching bag of both bullies and his father, but when he finally snapped and defended himself, Talon was there to guide him. Talon had even provided one of the apartments for Duke to move into, allowing Duke to runaway from home with his little sister in tow.

Ricochet had found his way into The Brotherhood's eye, but Duke had been the one to actually recruit him. Ricochet had been making a living off swiping small items while pretending to be a bodyguard. He'd also proven to be a natural with a sword, and therefore became one of the first members of The Brotherhood of the Blade.

All in all, it made for a tidy line. They had good lives, great reputations, and were the best at what they did. Not too shabby at all. Duke shrugged off deeper thoughts and joined Ricochet in teasing Talon about Sandy.

--------

Six Months Later

Wolf Star, Dutchess' hacker code name, was on a roll. Accessing files from Tech Speacilist Tanya Vanderflock wasn't a walk in the park. But then, if it was easy, where was the fun? Today, however, she'd found her way past the security systems and was busily hiding files. She'd had a few more heists in the past few months, but she shined with technology. Give her a system, she'd find a way to hack it if it was at all possible.

She moved the last few files, uploaded a worm to let her see what Tanya did, and then left her signature. A few keystrokes and she disconnected from the system. A smile formed as she leaned back. Life was good.


	2. Aftermath

_Aftermath_

--------

Puckworld, Four Years Later, During the Saurian Siege

Dutchess ducked into the shadows, watching the drones guard the captured ducks. She felt a twinge of pity for the poor souls who'd been captured by Dragonus, but they weren't her concern. Getting food for herself and the few members of The Brotherhood and The Brotherhood of the Blade that had freed themselves or avoided capture was. It had been Duke's idea to steal the food supplies (and what did a Saurian overlord with only a handful of people who ate anything need so much food for anyway?) But, he'd gone on a one man crime spree, the skills that had made him the best jewel thief on Puckworld giving him the ability to avoid capture and feed the chain gangs. Wonderful sentiment, but this was the aftermath of war, on a once peaceful planet. Dutchess just wanted the food.

Of course, if she happened to free the workers, and drop a few drones to give the worker's time to escape with some of that food, well, it was just a distraction. Pushing all thoughts but those for the job at hand, she moved.

--------

Talon watched his family, worrying about those they hadn't been able to locate. Their members were down to only twenty. The Brotherhood of the Blade had been that large, The Brotherhood itself boasting sixty members. He mentally reviewed all the members who were gone. Jackal and Sena were some of those missing. So was Sandy, but he tried not to think of that. If she was part of the chain gangs, he hadn't seen her yet. Some were in chain gangs, and plans were being made to rescue them. Others were in hiding as well, or at least, Talon hoped they were hiding. He refused to believe anything else until proof could be found. It was the only way to keep him from going crazy with worry.

The resistance forces he heard about were doing some good. Sometimes. Then again, they also made it harder for him and everyone to hide out. He was proud of Duke though. The hard luck kid from youth was gone, and his code of honor had turned him into someone that anyone on the chain gangs could find hope in. Talon knew that hope was precious nowadays.

He caught Dutchess slipping in out of the corner of his eye. She was inciting a private war within him. He knew Duke was entrusting him to keep an eye on her, and wanted to keep her safe. At the same time, Dutchess would have his head if he forced her to stay in. He just had to hope nothing happened to her. And worry that something would. This was never in the plans. This was never part of the deal.

--------

He slipped through the shadows, avoiding the Drones that guarded the slave quarters. Once to the door, he easily picked the lock and hurried inside, shutting the door behind him. Sliding down the wall, he made his way past the sleeping bodies on the floor until he came to the one he wanted. He shook her gently. "Sandy."

Sandy jerked awake, blinking at the figure in front of her. "Jackal?" she questioned, surprised and confused. It had been so long since she saw anyone from The Brotherhood besides Sena.

"Hey girl. Took me a bit to get free and find you."

"Did Talon send you?" The sheer hope in her voice was heartbreaking.

"No. I haven't found a lot of them yet." Her depression made him rush on. "We got me and five others together so far. We're getting you out of here."

"What about the others?" Sandy gestured to the bodies around, a few of whom had stirred and awakened while they spoke.

"And me." Sena had moved from her spot in the room to join them. "You wouldn't leave me behind, would you Jackal?" She had to fight to keep her voice from purring. _Geez, he looks so handsome in the dark like this. Wish he'd woken me up instead… _She pushed the thought away. His heart belonged to Dutchess. She didn't have a chance.

"Of course not, Sena. No one gets left behind. The others too. As soon as the alarms go off, we'll move."

Quickly, all of the ducks were awakened. Jackal passed Sandy and Sena some extra gear he'd brought with him, while the others found things to use as weapons. He had no problem causing a disturbance and sticking it to the Saurians. And if he could keep Sandy safe, he'd be that much closer to getting The Brotherhood back together. Talon would be better off knowing she was safe.

When the sirens blared, Jackal ordered everyone to the back. The front wall was blasted in. "Everyone MOVE!" The mad rush for freedom began, two ducks tossing puck blasters at those who ran by. Jackal kept Sandy near him, expecting Sena to keep up as they followed the rest out. Sena could be counted on to take care of herself. While the former slaves battled the Drones, the two ducks who'd given out the weapons and three others formed around Jackal, Sandy and Sena.

"Let's get out of here guys!" Jackal ordered. The five ducks nodded and vanished into the night.

--------

_One Year Later_

In the privacy of her own room, Dutchess stared at the ceiling and let despair wash over her. Dragonus was gone, the coward leaving to a different dimension. And that would have been fine, except for the fact that the resistance force that had chased the Saurian slime off had followed him to where ever he ran. The same resistance force that Duke had been a member of. And now he was gone.

She missed her big pain-in-the-butt brother. How could she help it? She loved him. And, even with the Brotherhood (pardoned from their previous crimes for all the "help" they'd given during the Saurian invasion) around her, willing to support her, she needed him. Duke…

Jackal stood outside her door, wanting to knock and offer comfort, knowing she wouldn't take it. He'd fallen for Dutchess years before, but she always put him off. Offering him a friendship, that couldn't be easy and natural because of his feelings for her, instead of returning the feelings. Now, when she could probably use a friend, he couldn't offer her anything.

He was still debating when Talon moved up beside him. The leader's hair had been dyed purple and blue thanks to a bet he lost with Duke and Dutchess. He refused to change it until Duke came back. No one would suggest that Duke may not be back.

"Hey Jackal," Talon kept his voice low, not wanting it to travel to Dutchess. The younger duck just nodded his hello. "You think it might help if Dutchess knew where Duke had gone?"

Jackal's head shot towards Talon. "You know?"

"No, but I got an idea on how we can find out. If we can get into one of the ships left behind, maybe Dragonus sent coordinates to one of them."

"Big if…"

"Yeah, but I can't just stand back and do nothing. Besides, if I told anyone else, they wouldn't let me search. Since you helped Sandy, I wanted to help you." He paused, letting the thought sink in. "You're the only one I can trust here."

"What about Ricochet? You usually hang with him more."

Talon sighed. He felt guilty about going behind his friend's back, but… "He's one of the ones who wouldn't let me search. Come on. It might cheer Dutchess up."

"I'm in."

--------

Jackal growled as he tried to figure out the controls for the Saurian computer. They had to find the one ship that still had Drones in it. By the time he'd managed to fight off the ones that had attacked him, Talon had been knocked unconscious and thrown in a cell. Now the Drones were all gone (or at least, he hoped they were!) but he couldn't figure out how to break into the cell. Cutting the bars didn't work, since they had an electric charge, and he didn't have anything that was designed to blow stuff up on him.

"We're in a mess." He commented to Talon.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"How about the fact that you two are morons?" The female voice surprised both males. Turning, they saw Dutchess and Ricochet, leaning against opposite walls.

"Well now, Dutchess, I don't think 'morons' quite catches what you mean." Ricochet drawled. "After all, if you hadn't overheard their little plan and got me to help you follow them, they coulda been stuck here for days. And can you imagine if it got out that the leader of The Brotherhood was captured by a few Drones after the war was over?"

"True. Plus, since neither of them have a technological bone in their body, you'd think they'd bring someone along to hack the computers. But no! Why should they, when they can risk erasing anything important the computer might hold, huh?" Dutchess sent a withering glance at Talon, who she blamed for this mess. Jakal was an idiot whenever someone brought her into the mix. _I just don't feel the same way. And I'm not about to fake feelings. Wish he'd wake up to Sena…_

Talon had the decency to look sheepish. "Come on Dee, it-"

"Don't call me that when I'm mad at you."

"Okay, okay. It was supposed to be a favor for you. We all miss Duke."

"We didn't mean any harm." Jakal chimed in, hesitantly. After all, he didn't want Dutchess to refocus her anger on him.

Dutchess sighed. "Fine. I'll get you out and check to see if Dragonus left his destination on the computer." Talon and Jakal looked relieved, knowing that was as close as they'd get to forgiveness.

"I don't know Dee." Ricochet used the nickname mostly to illustrate that he still could. "I think we should leave Talon here until we can get Sandy here."

Talon winced. His wife (who'd only been married to him a few months) had a slow, but vicious temper. "That is just plain evil, Ricochet."

Ricochet grinned. "I know."

"Well, you can tell Sandy about this. I'm getting him out." A glance over the face plate and Dutchess decided to just go to the wiring. Moments after removing it from her way, the bars of the cell slid open. "There. Now to the main computer."

--------

Dutchess was in heaven. Not only did the main computer store a detailed log of everything that took place aboard the Raptor, Dragonus' flagship, it also contained the information needed to make a personal gateway generator. With the help of a few of the other techs, she should be able to make two, one to get her there and back, and the other to get Duke back.

Talon was at Sandy's mercy, though she had pulled the leader into their bedroom after the first wave of temper had died down and she realized that all of The Brotherhood was watching her rip their leader to shreds, verbally. Of course, since you could stand at the end of the hall and still hear everything, that idea hadn't worked too well. They just had the members of The Brotherhood piling in the hallway.

Dutchess figured she'd wait until everyone wasn't so distracted before getting the other techs to help her. Too bad Tanya left with the rebellion. _I haven't gotten a good hacking in ages, and she was an awesome inventor. I might've convinced her to help. Oh well._

She turned down a hallway and saw Talon wasn't the only one getting chewed out. Sena had found out what Talon and Jackal had done, and wasn't letting Jackal off as easy as Dutchess did. Jackal looked rather as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.

Chuckling, Dutchess left Jackal to his fate. _ Well Duke, once everyone is paying attention again, we'll get to work on getting you back. See you soon bro._


	3. Arrival

_Arrival_

_--------_

Puckworld, 2 months later

Steel clashed against steel as the two combatants gauged each other. They sprang apart quickly and circled, each watching for an opening. With a swift flick of her wrist, Dutchess thrust towards her opponent. Parrying easily, Ricochet sidestepped and brought his sword down towards the young female.

"I can't believe you Rico," Dutchess flipped back, the anger and disgust in her voice quite plain. She lunged forward, only to be blocked and pushed back.

"Come on Dee. I don't have a choice." Rico leapt into the air to avoid another swipe, landing behind Dutchess. She quickly moved her sword behind her to block Rico's attack. He pressed down on the swords, forcing Dutchess to stay in her position or be cut. "Second in command has to take over whenever the first in command can not lead until he or she _can _lead. Whether we like it or not, Duke's not here. The Blades need a leader, and Talon told me I had to step up." Dutchess glared at him, her eyes watering for a moment, before ducking and rolling away. She blinked furiously to hide her tears.

"You could have refused." She rushed towards Rico, swinging her sword towards him.

Ricochet sighed as he deflected Dutchess' attack. "No, I couldn't." He blocked her next attack and twisted his wrist, sending her sword flying. "Be honest Dutchess. Would Duke have approved?"

Dutchess stood there, looking so much younger than she was. Her face carried a lost for a moment, then her legs gave out from under her. She buried her face in her hands.

"I miss him Rico."

Rico walked over to her, sheathing his own blade. Kneeling beside her, he pulled her into his arms.

"I know. Me too."

--------

Earth, 10 months later

The heroes known as the Mighty Ducks watched as Dragonus' ship sank into the ocean. None of them believed that was the last they'd see of the evil Saurian, but for now, there was nothing they could do but go home.

--------

Duke L'Orange lined up the pucks and took his shots at the goal. It was better up here on the ice, than down below with the bored Dive. The comic shop was closed and it had been raining pretty hard for the past few days. Being cooped up at the pond wasn't much fun, but even the criminals of Anaheim seemed to be staying in.

As he skated over to retrieve the pucks, his mind drifted back to Puckworld. He avoided dwelling on all he left behind whenever possible. Talon, Ricochet, Dutchess...it was better to not think about them too much, but sometimes he couldn't help it. He worried about how the Brotherhood was doing. He worried about what trouble his sister was causing. He worried too much about things he couldn't control. It drove him nuts.

"Duh, wanna play a little, you know, one-on-one?"

Duke glanced up in surprise to see Tanya on the ice. He'd been distracted by his thoughts enough to not hear her approach. Pushing thoughts of family and friends to the back of his mind, Duke grinned before teasingly calling, "Sure, I could stand beating you a few times."

--------

"I'm bored!" Nosedive flopped onto the couch, barely glancing at the news show Mallory was watching. The red-haired female gave the younger duck a warning look.

"You've been saying that for days. Find something to do already." She turned back to the screen. "And no pranks."

Dive sighed. Heavily. He'd already practiced hockey to the point that he just didn't feel like it anymore. The only crimes were lame ones, easily handled by Anaheim's finest. There was nothing to do. He had actually caught himself _wishing_ for Dragonus and his men to make a move. Not that the Saurians had made a peep since plunging into the ocean. And all the others cared about was making sure _he_ didn't bug _them_. How lame.

He turned his attention to the news, but quickly lost interest. He glanced at Mallory again. He really shouldn't bug her, but...well, who was he to resist when _she_ brought the idea to mind? His mind started going through the possibilities.

Wildwing shook his head, easily guessing what his little brother was up to. _'Desperate times call for emergency measures..._' he mused as he opened the safe he kept battle mementos in. He pulled out some books of comics that had been released years before the ducks arrived on Earth and were now being re-released. He had bought them for just such an emergency. Re-closing the safe, he made his way to Dive and Mallory and dropped the comics into Dive's lap.

"Here ya go, baby bro. Enjoy," he announced as Dive's expression went from surprise to confusion to fairly close to joy.

"Alright! Awesome!" Dive flipped through the books, glancing at the titles. "Thanks bro!" The youngest member of the Mighty Ducks team took off to read the comics in the privacy of his own room.

Mallory watched until Nosedive was out of sight before turning to Wildwing with a grateful look. "Nice move there. How'd you know what to get?"

"I talked Mookie and Thrash into getting the books and keeping Dive from buying them," Wildwing claimed the spot his younger brother had vacated. "It seemed like the time to use them."

Mallory smiled and the two duck turned their attention to the news. Moments of companionable silence passed as the weatherman predicted more rain for the coming days. No more than twenty minutes had passed before Phil Palmfeather, manager of the Mighty Ducks, stepped off the elevator, followed by Duke and Tanya.

"-won't regret this." Phil finished talking to the two ducks with him before turning his attention to the two on the couch. "Wildwing! Mallory! Just the ducks I wanted to see!"

'_Oh boy...'_Wildwing bit back a groan, wondering what Phil had gotten them into this time. "What is it Phil?"

"Well, see, there's this new airline company wants to use you guys as spokesducks. You know, ducks and flying? Perfect ain't it?"

"Um Phil? We can't fly."

"Details, details, Wildwing. Now, I promised these guys I'd get the team to come for this, but they only want four of you. Didn't want to pay for all, I guess. But, see, that's why this is perfect! You can have four teammates go and leave two here for your crime fighting-thing." _'There's gotta be a way to cash in on that._ Phil hurried on. "Come on, I already got Duke and Tanya to agree."

Wildwing raised an eyebrow at his two teammates. Duke shrugged.

"Eh, it's better than dealing with a bored Dive. 'Sides, crime's been down lately, so we might as well make Phil happy at least."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Duke," Mallory spoke up. "I just might have to strangle Nosedive if he pulls one more prank on me, and those comics won't keep him busy for long."

With a sigh, Wildwing nodded. "I'll talk to Grin and see if he wants to go or stay here."

--------

'_Man, everyone takes off for a publicity stunt and leaves me here with nothing to do.' _Nosedive made a disgusted sound. Sure, Grin was staying behind too, but the big guy had already warned Dive about messing up his Karma. Which was Grin-speak for "Don't bug me." The rest of the team had left with Phil in the _Aerowing_ an hour ago.

"Bored, bored, bored." Dive spoke to an empty room. He might just die or boredom. What he wouldn't give for a crime, or Dragonus and his flunkies to try something, or-

Nosedive's thoughts were interrupted by an alarm from Drake 1. He grinned. "Alright! Some action!"

--------

Under the sea, the _Raptor_'s alarms were going off as well. Which didn't make Dragonus, leader of the Saurians, very happy.

"Quiet that infernal racket! Chameleon! I thought I ordered you to plug the leaks!" In a fine temper, Dragonus stormed into the bridge of the Raptor.

"B-but boss, it's not a leak!" Chameleon protested, shrinking away from the mad Saurian.

"He's right. Someone's opened a dimensional portal." Siege spoke up from a computer consol as he shut off "that infernal racket". "Looks like a personal sized opening, not far from the city. And whatever opened it has a different power signal."

"A different power signal?" Dragonus repeated. "Find whoever came through that portal and bring them to me!" The command was sharp. His three minions wasted no time in going. Alone, the Saurian overlord mused, "Perhaps their power source can be used to refuel the _Raptor."_ He grinned at the thought.

Puckworld, Earlier that Same Day

Ricochet shook his head as he watched Jackal speed away with the puck. _Too cocky, not paying attention. That boy never learns._ He grinned as Sena neatly slipped past Jackal, stealing the puck with a finesse that few could copy. _And with only Dutchess between her and the goal, __Whistler better watch out. _It took less than a moment for Dutchess to try and fail to retrieve the puck from Sena before Sena managed to get into the open. A quick fake and then the real shot had the puck whizzing by Whistler to hit neatly in the goal. As Sena and her teammates cheered, Rico turned away from the game. It was good that they could play, that Dutchess had joined them in the game. The Brotherhood and the Brotherhood of the Blade needed some relief, and hockey was always a good one. _At least Puckworld is finally getting back on track._

He still couldn't believe it had been over a year since Duke's disappearance. By this point, Dutchess was probably the only one who didn't at least partially think that Duke would never _be_ back. Rico knew she had been working on the teleporter designs with the few techs in the Brotherhood left, only to discover that the Saurian power source didn't exist in the size she needed. The last he heard, the techs had all given up on it. He was fairly certain Dutchess had given up on it too. He hadn't seen her working on it for some time.

He started to enter the building Talon had secured for the Brotherhood members, only to stop when Sandy almost ran into him. She seemed distracted, and not in a good way. Concerned, he caught her arm.

Sandy jerked and blinked dazedly for a moment at him, then gave him a small smile. "Oh, hi Ricochet. I...I guess I wasn't paying any...um..." she blinked again. "Any attention."

Rico studied the wife of his friend carefully. "Hey, something wrong there Sandy?"

Her smile brightened. "No, nothing's wrong. I just...well...I need to rest."

"Listen Boss Lady, you goin' 'round in a daze like that, you better believe you're talkin' to Talon while you rest. Come on." Gently taking her elbow, Rico led Sandy inside. _Man, last thing we need is for something to be wrong..._

--------

Dutchess growled in disgust as she made her way to her room. She never had been that great at hockey, despite her brother (and every member of the Brotherhood, just about!) teaching her. It was no surprise that Sena's team had beat her's. _Well, that's my free time for the day. Now to claim "work" and pretend I'm helping Talon's little plan out._

Talon's "little plan" had been in effect for a while now. It basically meant that most of their thefts were from those who were trying to unfairly profit from the Saurian invasion. Not that they weren't getting their fair share of normal crimes in anyway, but Talon thought that cheating those who were already suffering was crossing the line.

It was a good idea. If nothing else, it took care of competition. However, Dutchess had something more important to work on. Getting her brother back.

She'd been working on a power source for the past couple of months. This time, she was sure she had it. She'd created a crystal casing and filled it with various elements until it seemed to match the signature of the Saurian's Bellerium Crystals. It had to work. Duke was stranded somewhere and she was bringing him back. All she had to do was test it. She tucked her laptop into its backpack, as well as the other transporter she'd made and a few disks that could always be helpful. After all, who knew what she'd find before she got to Duke?

A note for all her friends that she'd written during her first few failed attempts was sitting on her desk. She had her gear. If this worked, she'd be seeing Duke soon. Taking a fortifying breath, she looked at the watch-sized teleporter and pushed the button to activate it. Almost instantly, she was no longer in her room. Her eyes squeezed closed as her body felt like something was tearing her apart, molecule-by-molecule. The sensation ended as quickly as it started and she felt wind rushing by her as she fell. She landed roughly on hard ground.

After a dazed moment, Dutchess opened her eyes. She was in the middle of some sort of green stuff, no ice in sight. It was a bit warmer than she was used to, but she could handle that. She stood carefully, eyes still surveying her surroundings. Where was she? No one was insight, neither were any buildings. Perfect.

Taking off her transporter and tucking it into her backpack, she made a mental note to be more careful when setting coordinates for the return trip. Apparently, she hadn't corrected from the height of the _Raptor_ and _Aerowing_ as well as she should have. Where should she go from here?

The answer to that ceased to matter when three Saurians materialized around her. Getting away suddenly became much more important.


End file.
